New Afghan strategy

It looks like Obama will go with an alternative to the broader counterinsurgency strategy favored by Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal. We will continue the fight against al Qaeda, and learn to live with the Taliban:

"As the Obama administration reconsiders its Afghanistan policy, White House officials are minimizing warnings from the intelligence community, the military and the State Department about the risks of adopting a limited strategy focused on al Qaeda, U.S. intelligence, diplomatic and military officials told McClatchy. Recent U.S. intelligence assessments have found that the Taliban and other Pakistan-based groups that are fighting U.S.-led forces have much closer ties to al Qaeda now than they did before Sept. 11, 2001, which would allow the terrorist network to reestablish bases in Afghanistan and would help Osama bin Laden export his radical brand of Islam to Afghanistan's neighbors and beyond, the officials said."

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/story/1276859.html

As our soldiers patrol Afghanistan, how are they supposed to tell the difference between the Taliban and al Qaeda? It's not like they wear different color uniforms, or they walk around with a capital "T" or "A" on the back of their robes.